Posted on 09/13/2011 1:18:56 PM PDT by Rational Thought
Texas Gov. Rick Perry bristled at accusations during Mondays GOP debate that he had done the bidding of a corporate donor by ordering schoolgirls to use a new vaccine.
The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them, Perry said. I raised about $30 million.
(snip)
But campaign disclosure records portray a much deeper financial connection with Merck than Perrys remarks would suggest.
Perrys gubernatorial campaign, for example, received nearly $30,000 from the drugmaker since 2000, most of it prior to his decision in 2007 to order young girls to obtain Mercks vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
Merck has also given more than $355,000 in donations to the Republican Governors Association since 2006, which was the year that Perry began to play a prominent role in the Washington-based group, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Perry served as chairman of the RGA in 2008 and again this year until he decided to run for president. The group also ranks among Perrys biggest donors, giving the Texas governors campaign at least $4 million over the past five years, according to Texans for Public Justice.
(snip)
One of Perrys closest confidantes, former chief of staff Mike Toomey, was working at the time as an Austin-based lobbyist for Merck, which was in the midst of a multimillion-dollar campaign to persuade states to make the vaccine mandatory.
Toomey, who has declined to respond to requests for comment, has since gone on to help found Make Us Great Again, a pro-Perry super PAC that can accept unlimited donations from corporations and wealthy donors. Media reports indicate that the group plans to raise as much as $55 million to help Perry win the GOP nomination
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
“and that the Texas Legislature overturned the Executive Order before a single girl had received the vaccine.”
Because he didn’t get away with it, makes it okay, somehow?
Ohhhh...are you talking about this part?
LIST OF READY MADE EXCUSES FOR SARAH PALIN FAILING TO GET THE GOP NOMINATION:
1. The media wouldn't give her a chance to get her message out.
2. The media lied enough to scare off voters from Sarah.
3. Karl Rove
4. The media distorted and lied about Sarah's message.
5. Sarah actually won every primary but THEY committed the biggest election fraud in the history of the world in order to STEAL the nomination from Sarah.
6. THEY knew Sarah would win in the biggest landslide ever and did everything they could to destroy her. (this will be followed by claims that armed revolt is the only way to take back America for God)
7. SATAN (for those who feel #3 is insufficient)
8. Mitt Romney (for those who feel #6 is insufficient)
Actually this isn't a denigration of Palin, it's a denigration of her supporters. I'm waiting until she runs to actually denigrate her ability as a candidate.
lol, Don’t worry, I know all about Sarah’s great success stories...she is a blessing to us all and would be as president should she run.
But I’m not naive...it’s going to take a buttload of somebody’s money to make it happen, as well as any dimes I can send her way.
And I know that I can trust her with it, just like I know I can trust Governor Perry, also.
WHAT? It's not about politicians accepting campaign contributions from corporations, it's about what you are willing to do, to get that money.
Maybe Perry should contact Celgene Corporation and see if they would be willing to contribute to his campaign if he was willing to promote thalidomide for them. Hey, it's still legal. People can “opt out”. No big deal.
If that is the case can we say.....he tried but failed...
MAYBE you need to study up on the the POLIO Vaccine requirements of the 1960’s....
Rick Perry...bought and paid for. next.
LOL! Like that new Brad Pitt movie when he hangs up on the guy. “When you get the answer you want, you hang up.”
We have been forced to have the flu shot for the past three years at the hospital where I work (I don’t take care of patients, I analyze data all day at a remote site). Last year it was a three-in-one shot. I have formally protested, including submitting a well-researched treatise on the hyped & bogus “flu threat.” Long story long, just like you, no one cares to investigate this draconian policy - we have all been getting the flu when we never did before having to have the shot. No one even tracks the effectiveness and whether you got the flu- just shills who have become sheep herders. If there were any other alternative, I would have gone three years ago. But, this is Michigan! It makes me so enraged I can barely stand it. Did anyone ever hear what happened to the Nurses suing New York for trying to mandate the H1N1 vaccination? I know people have been fired from my hospital for not submitting. Unbelievable.
Outragous.
Like I said I have bad reaction to certain drugs. My HMO knows that, maybe that is why they didn’t argue with me.
Do you have any alergies?
$30k since 2000??
OMG!
That’s almost $3000 a year or nearly $250 PER MONTH!!
WAIT...That’s not even a car payment on a decent car.
Perry used an EO to make the vaccines available at no cost to families that wanted it. He used the system in place to help Texan families fight cancer.
The opt out was already in place for those families that didn’t want it.
What part of this upsets you?
This post might answer your question.
If there was an “opt-out” then why is this EO being characterized as mandatory? We have an opt-out for the mandatory flu vaccine that only allows for religious reasons or an allegy to the vaccines. I guess this all goes back to what kind of world do you want to live in? The Nanny State that tries to eliminate all risk (unsuccessfully) and Freedom, where I get to decide what risks I will take. If you make provisions for one person to opt out, then that must be a safe alternative that I should also be afforded based on my own convictions.
There has been a gilzillion posts on this same topic tonight. However about something else. This was brought up in 2007, the Legislature did not pass the law, so it is a moot point. I am sick of this crap!
Flu is an airborne disease. You might not want to get the vaccine, but if you get the flu you can spread it to people with weakened immune systems who could die. If you have children, it is the same principal. This is a bad analogy regarding the HPV vaccine, which WAS NEVER PASSED AND NOT GIVEN.
I understand all of that - my point is about the State (or Employer) ‘blanket mandate’ on any of it. The Texas Legislature stopped the HPV mandate - good for them - doesn’t take away the fact that Perry fully supported a mandate (before he was against it). Not every state is as interested in protecting individual rights. As far as deaths due to Influenza, it is usually pneumonia that does the killing. In Michigan, flu and pneumonia deaths are now reported jointly. People with weakened immune systems can die from a lot of things. Why not help people build up their strength — no money in that....
“Mandatory” put it into the realm of being covered by insurance.
Opt in makes it possibly uncovered and on the patient.
IMO, Perry was gaming the system for the benefit of Texans who might want the cancer preventing medication but wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it.
Do you have a problem with that?
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